Feb. 27, 2010
Penn State 10, Towson 1 • Penn State 9, Delaware 1
GREENVILLE, N.C.--The Penn State softball team's offense truly came alive on Saturday as the Nittany Lions downed Towson, 10-1, and Delaware, 9-1, at the ECU Softball Field. Penn State (8-3) pounded 28 hits between two games, hitting .528, while three pitchers allowed just three hits and two runs over 11 innings of play.
In game one against Towson (2-2), Penn State tagged Tiger starter Shannon Johnston for five runs in the first frame with back-to-back-to-back doubles. Desi Giordano (West Caldwell, N.J.), Lisa Akamine (Escondido, Calif.) and Mary Ostman (Northbrook, Ill.) scored all five runs with two outs with their respective doubles to the gaps, scoring Cassidy Bell (Bakersfield, Calif.), Ashley Griffith (Mt. Laurel, N.J.), Jackie Hill (San Jose, Calif.), Giordano and Akamine.
That set the tone of the rest of the day as the Nittany Lions immediately tacked two more to the scoreboard in the second and third innings behind a two-run RBI single by Hill in the second and RBI singles in the third by Bell and Griffith. Hill (5-1), who started the game for Penn State in the circle, exited the game after the second inning with PSU leading 7-0.
Penn State would add another run in the fourth when Danee Collett (Orange, Calif.) took a 1-1 pitch down the left field line for her third homer of the year and a 10-0 lead. Towson gathered a run in the fifth for its lone tally of the day, breaking a two-game winning streak. Penn State scored nine of its 10 runs with two outs on the board, belting 12 hits.
In game two against Delaware (2-5), Penn State got off to another hot start, hitting Blue Hen ace Anne Marie Pagano for three runs in the first inning. Bell and Griffith once again set the table, reaching on a pair of singles, allowing Kailyn Johnson (Yorba Linda, Calif.) to rip a double to the right center gap for a quick 2-0 lead three batters in.
After a ground out by Collett and a strikeout for Hill, Giordano singled to put runners on first and third. Akamine would go on to walk and Ostman took a 3-2 pitch for a ball, driving home Johnson for a 3-0 edge.
Penn State would strike for another in the third when with runners on the corners, Ostman made a run to second base, forcing a throw to second by the UD catcher. Giordano took off for home and would score for a 4-0 lead and Ostman retreated to first without incident.
The Lions scored three more in the bottom of the fourth inning with an efficient round of batting. Johnson singled and Renwick pinch ran for her at first. Collett doubled to rightfield and Hill's single brought home Renwick, sending Collett to third. A wild pitch by Pagano allowed Collett to score for a lead of 6-0. After two outs, Ostman chopped a single to first base, avoided the tag and beat out the eventual throw, driving in another run for a 7-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth, Akamine was cruising, retiring 12 straight batters to start the game, but had her perfect game bid and the shutout get away with a leadoff homer by Delaware. Penn State responded in the bottom half when Collett singled Bell home for an 8-1 advantage.
After a 1-2-3 inning for PSU pitching wise in the sixth, as Akamine retired the first batter and Kimi Wong (Goleta, Calif.) put away the last two batters in relief. Akamine led off the bottom of the inning with a single to right and after Ostman popped out, Morgan Long (Oro Valley, Ariz.) belted a double for runners at second and third with one out. Lauren Rossi (Yardley, Pa.) ripped a single to leftcenter, driving home Akamine for the game-ending run at 9-1 as the run-rule was enforced.
For the two games, Penn State batted .528, slugging .717 with 28 hits, 19 runs, seven doubles and a home run. Conversely, the PSU pitching allowed opposing batters to hit just .083 with a single, double and a homer in 36 at bats. Akamine pitched 8.1 innings with three hits, two runs and a walk against, while striking out nine and improving to 3-2 on the season.
The Nittany Lions will continue its stay in North Carolina when they take on Morehead State and host East Carolina on Sunday, Feb. 28 at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively. First pitch is slated for 10:00 a.m. ET and the game can be followed through Gametracker and Twitter (@PSULionSoftball).
NOTES
Penn State is 8-3 for the first time since 2006 when the Nittany Lions began 2-3 followed by a school-record 16-game winning streak for a 20-3 mark...The five game winning streak matches the longest since a five-game stretch last year (Feb. 4-14)...Penn State improves to 2-0 all-time against Delaware in the teams' first meeting since 1978...PSU improves to 3-0 all-time against Towson, the team head coach Robin Petrini earned her first career win against in 1997...Five Nittany Lions--Cassidy Bell, Ashley Griffith, Mary Ostman, Morgan Long, and Danee Collett--had at least three hits on the day, including a team-high five by Bell, who scored five times today...Collett tallied seven total bases thanks to her homer, double and a single...Ostman and Hill knocked home three runners today, leading the squad...Lauren Rossi has a 1.000 batting average this season, going 3-for-3 with two RBI and a walk...Hill lowered her ERA to 2.50 from 2.65, while Akamine sent her ERA to 5.19 from 6.70 and Wong's ERA fell from 8.00 to 7.00...PSU out-hit its two opponents today 28-3, belting seven doubles to one and walking 11 times to two.
--NITTANY LIONS--